The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS – For the second year in a row there is playoff football in Hot Springs.
Coming off of a 9-1 regular season; Bath County will host their VHSL Class 1, Region C first-round matchup against Galax on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Carl F. Williams Field.
Bath County suffered their only loss of the season to date in the final week of the regular season 47-19 to Narrows, as the team had looked to capture not only the Pioneer District championship, but their first undefeated regular season in 20 years, as well as the potential top-seed in the region.
The Chargers heading into their district championship game against the Green Wave were ranked second in the region. The loss dropped the team to fourth as NHS jumped them from the fourth to 2nd-seed, George Wythe also made a leap in front of BCHS to third.
Nonetheless Bath County will still be hosting at least one playoff game this season in Hot Springs.
The status/availability of junior standout Wyatt Campbell will be the key to success for Bath County in the postseason.
Late in the second quarter against Narrows, Campbell exited the game with an upper body injury and did not return.
At the time of the injury to Campbell, Bath County had trailed 20-13.
The Chargers did score on their opening drive of the second half when junior Cooper Lowry connected with senior Andrew Turner on a 10-yard pass as the team cut the deficit to one point at 20-19.
However, that would be the last time BCHS scored as Narrows scored 27 unanswered points the rest of the way, while also forcing three defensive turnovers.
The two-way player Campbell, who can burn a defense with his arm and legs, led Bath County with 50 touchdowns during the regular season (27 rushing, 22 passing, and one punt return for a score), and also surpassed 2,800 all-purpose yards.
While Campbell led the way for the offense, he was backed up by a solid regular season by Luke Turner who had over 500 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Ethan Bryant also had a pair of rushing scores and just under 300-yards on the ground.
And let’s not forget this Chargers defense.
Through the team’s first nine games BCHS allowed less than 10 points a game and had four shutouts. The defense is a juggernaut and are led by Lowry, Bryant, and Braiden Mabe, all of whom have over 65 tackles each.
Now the focus shifts to Friday’s regional playoff matchup against Galax. The Maroon Tide finished 6-4 overall and second in the Mountain Empire district at 4-1.
Galax won five of their last six games including five straight before losing their last game to the top-seed in the region Grayson County 28-14.
For the Maroon Tide to pull out a win in Hot Springs Friday over Bath County, they’ll need to do what Narrows did and that was score early on the Chargers and maintain the pace. GHS is averaging 27 points a game this season.
Galax did have some notable wins during the regular season; 34-19 home win over the regions 3-seeded George Wythe and a 14-6 victory on the road over the regions 8-seeded Giles.
The last time Bath County and Galax met was in last year’s first-round of regionals. The Maroon Tide shutout the Chargers 49-0.
Class 1, Region C Bracket
1. Grayson County vs 8. Giles
4. Bath County vs 5. Galax
3. George Wythe vs 6. Parry McCluer
2. Narrows vs 7. Fort Chiswell
